The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered added facial hair.
Sure, the unique model of Oblivion didn’t have any scruff in sight. No beards within the character creator and never a single mustache could be discovered within the monumental province of Cyrodiil. Including beards to a handful of NPCs all through the world would not change Oblivion’s core expertise. In truth, even with the facial hair and improved graphics, half of the characters I met throughout my journey nonetheless regarded unsettling. To some, this can be off-putting–especially when juxtaposed with the remaster’s in any other case astounding visuals–but for me, Oblivion is not Oblivion with out some actually uncomfortable character fashions. It is all a part of that “allure” that recreation director Todd Howard talked about within the reveal stream.
The oldsters at Virtuos appear to grasp that trademark Oblivion “allure,” too, as a result of the remaster retains the most effective of the Bethesda jank intact whereas gently transforming a few of Oblivion’s extra dated mechanics. Purists will definitely discover issues to nitpick, and first-timers could scratch their heads at among the jank that was left in, however Oblivion Remastered seems like probably the most logical compromise. The visuals have been solely recreated to make the most of Unreal Engine 5, however the characters nonetheless do not look fairly proper. The assault animations have been redone, however the fight remains to be typically unhealthy. The streamlined leveling mechanics retain the category system, but it surely’s a lot more durable to get soft-locked. The UI and menus have been consolidated and refreshed, however Oblivion’s iconic map display is equivalent to the unique. For probably the most half, Oblivion Remastered manages to stroll that skinny line of familiarity and freshness.
The largest shock is its presentation. Oblivion Remastered appears to be like beautiful. Virtuos and Bethesda Sport Studios have taken benefit of Unreal Engine 5 and it’s unquestionably probably the most technically spectacular recreation Bethesda Sport Studios has ever launched. The dynamic lighting, vibrant skyboxes, broader coloration palette, and hyper-realistic textures give the remaster that current-gen AAA sheen that gamers count on. These enhancements lengthen to the character fashions as nicely, as NPCs are lavishly detailed. You possibly can see the strands of hair on their freshly grown beards and the pores on their faces, however they’re nonetheless a little bit uncanny. Typically, the NPCs look even stranger after they open their mouths. There is a weird disconnect between the hyper-realistic visuals and the bizarre faces and dated facial animations. The factor is, that awkwardness is a part of what makes Oblivion so particular, and there is loads of it on this remaster.
A key a part of that awkwardness is the long-lasting voice appearing, and, fortunately, Virtuos and BGS have opted to maintain a lot of the unique voice work. In fact, Wes Johnson’s booming voice can nonetheless be heard in all places, and so they even left in among the flubs that have been by no means minimize from the unique recreation. Nevertheless, a handful of latest voice actors have been launched to re-record strains for various races. This is smart contemplating roughly eight individuals recorded strains for tons of of characters, however I discover myself lacking the outdated voice appearing now and again. The beggars’ bizarre supply of, “Thanks, variety sir” has been redone and it feels… mistaken. The awkward voice swap has change into canonical for me, and contemplating Virtuos left within the flubs however modified that could be a bit disappointing.
So far as I can inform, a lot of the sound results are the identical as nicely. Flare and restoration sound practically equivalent, however they really feel a little bit misplaced when paired with the brand new results and lighting tech. This is not a nasty factor, but it surely feels bizarre to alter a lot of the presentation however depart these dated sound results intact.
Virtuos appear to grasp that trademark Oblivion “allure” as a result of the remaster retains the most effective of the Bethesda jank intact whereas gently transforming a few of Oblivion’s extra dated mechanics
Other than the presentation, Oblivion’s fight, third-person digicam, and leveling system have obtained the most important reworks. New assault animations give melee fight a little bit extra aptitude, the bow is far simpler to purpose, enemies react to hits as an alternative of simply grunting or growling, and the addition of a dash button provides extra maneuverability out and in of fights. All these tweaks work properly with the third-person digicam choice. Whereas third-person nonetheless is not the best solution to play Oblivion, the digicam choice is significantly higher than within the unique. That is all tied collectively by a revamped leveling system that is a little bit extra forgiving to the informal participant.
Whereas these tweaks to the fight and leveling make Oblivion extra approachable, its moment-to-moment fight remains to be unhealthy. It lacks the affect and weight that different first-person, melee-centric video games have lengthy since discovered. Most melee encounters boil right down to blocking and backpedaling in between swings whereas your opponent rushes you down. In 2006, this was forgivable given how formidable Oblivion was, but it surely’s more durable to miss in 2025. That is barely offset by all of the instruments at your disposal and the extra versatile leveling system. After I obtained uninterested in swinging my sword, I switched to my bow. After I obtained uninterested in pelting my foes with arrows, I switched to my spells. After I obtained uninterested in spells, I conjured up some skeletons to struggle for me. It is not a sublime resolution, however on the very least it retains fight from getting stale.
Regardless of its flaws, I’ve at all times most well-liked Oblivion’s leveling system to Skyrim’s. By selecting a category and specializing in sure abilities on the outset, I felt extra compelled to play into a selected position. My characters in Oblivion excelled at some issues and sucked at others, and that is simply the way it was. The important thing was to play into these strengths with a view to degree up. The remaster nonetheless enables you to choose (or create) a category with a handful of main abilities that, when educated, considerably velocity up the leveling course of. Each ability that is not a significant ability can nonetheless be improved and issue into leveling. This implies you are still inspired to develop a play model constructed round your class, however should you resolve 10 hours in that you simply need to choose up Phantasm magic, there’s nothing stopping you from doing so. The remaster additionally retains a few of its weirder abilities and attributes like Athletics, which helps you to soar increased, and Velocity, which merely will increase motion velocity. I invested rather a lot in velocity out of curiosity and there is no cause to ever use the brand new dash button as a result of even with out sprinting my character seemingly strikes sooner than my horse. Extra importantly, these modifications make it a lot more durable to create a nasty class and soft-lock your level–an difficulty I ceaselessly bumped into once I performed Oblivion as a child.
Oblivion Remastered does have its fair proportion of bugs, however so far as Bethesda RPG’s go, it might be rather a lot worse. I skilled one crash in the midst of 20 hours and have seen a handful of visible oddities, largely relating to the lighting–things like awkward reflections and bizarre shadows. Efficiency has been good on my 4080Ti, however there’s positively some body drops within the open world. Efficiency on the Steam Deck is tough regardless of the sport being Deck Verified. The visuals are muddy, the efficiency drops beneath 30fps typically, and it hitches usually. I’d not suggest taking part in on Steam Deck except that’s your solely choice.
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Remaking or remastering Oblivion is a peculiar endeavor. It is a messy recreation that–on paper–was outdone by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in practically each conceivable means. Skyrim’s fight is superior, its world is extra visually distinct, the dungeon design is extra targeted, the voice appearing has some nuance to it, and, after all, the characters look significantly better. Nevertheless, had Bethesda Sport Studios and Virtuos Studios rebuilt Oblivion from the bottom up with the intent of matching or exceeding Skyrim, they’d have missed the purpose. You possibly can’t recapture or recreate the magic of Wes Johnson growling, “THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!” The Roxey Inn would not really feel like The Roxey Inn with out a nonsensical cacophony of dialog the second you load by its doorways. Hell, I might argue that Oblivion is not Oblivion with out its bizarre persuasion mechanic that I nonetheless do not totally perceive virtually 20 years later. These tough edges are what provides Oblivion character, and when these are sanded down, you are left with a reasonably generic fantasy role-playing recreation.
There is a YouTuber that goes by Bacon_ who’s been highlighting that Oblivion “allure” for practically a decade now. Typically, their clips encapsulate the whole lot of the Oblivion expertise in beneath 15 seconds. They’ve change into iconic. Over the previous couple of days, Bacon_ has been recreating these clips in Oblivion Remastered, and they’re simply as humorous and bizarre as I keep in mind. This may increasingly appear small, however I feel that claims rather a lot concerning the reverence Virtuos has for Oblivion. Remastered recaptures simply sufficient of that allure to make it a worthy remaster of one among Bethesda Sport Studios’ most beloved video games.